Blunt introduces bill to fund wildlife conservation

Missouri U.S. Senator Roy Blunt made a stop to the Wah-Sha-She Prairie in Asbury, Missouri, Friday morning to talk about legislation he’s helped introduce that would help fund the preservation of wildlife areas in the country.

“No state has been more conservation, wildlife-friendly than our state. This would be a $1.3 billion annual project that comes out of some environmental penalty funds that have never been a part of general revenue, so no program is impacted negatively by what [officials] have called the most important wildlife issue in well over a generation,” said Blunt.

He states that the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) of 2021 invests in proactive, on-the-ground conservation work led by states, territories, and Tribal nations to support the long-term health of fish and wildlife habitat all across America.

“$20 million of that $1.3 billion would come to Missouri every year and most of that money in our state would be spent working with local landowners to do what local landowners would like to do on their own property,” added Blunt, saying things like bringing Quail and Honeybees back into the state are key.

Blunt was joined by Missouri Department of Conservation Director Sara Parker Pauley and Audubon certified cattle producer Dave Haubein. Read more details about RAWA below:

The RAWA Act of 2021 would:

• Fund conservation efforts for more than 12,000 species of wildlife and plants in need of assistance by providing $1.3 billion in dedicated annual funding for proactive, on-the-ground efforts across the country.
• Provide Tribal nations $97.5 million annually to fund proactive wildlife conservation efforts on roughly 140 million acres of land.
• Ensure wildlife recovery efforts will be guided by the Congressionally-mandated State Wildlife Action Plans, which identify specific strategies to restore the populations of species of greatest conservation need.
• Accelerate the recovery of 1,600 U.S. species already listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
• Include improvements to ensure funds are appropriately targeted to the areas of greatest need and facilitate additional investments in protecting at-risk plant species.
• In the Senate, RAWA also directs fees and penalties assessed for environmental violations to help fund RAWA, using fee and penalty amounts that aren’t already targeted for existing environmental funds.

Blunt and New Mexico U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich introduced RAWA in July of this year. The bipartisan, bicameral bill would support the long-term health of fish and wildlife habitat all across America by investing in proactive, on-the-ground conservation work led by states, territories, and Tribal nations.

The recovery work funded by RAWA would be guided by the wildlife conservation strategies and plans developed by states, territories, and Tribes. These science-based strategies would restore populations of species with the greatest conservation need. State, Territorial, and Tribal wildlife agencies have identified more than 12,000 species in need of conservation assistance. Existing federal funding support is severely insufficient and fails to provide the resources required to meet all of these needs. As introduced, RAWA would provide $1.3 billion in dedicated annual funding, including an estimated $20 million for Missouri.

The RAWA Act of 2021 is supported by over 1,500 organizations representing state fish and wildlife agencies, industry associations and businesses, conservation groups, and sportsmen and women.

Even more information on the bill is available HERE.